It seems the contest rules were unclear and had some unintended consequences. So, we're changing the rules, and moving the deadline back so people who had previously decided not to enter can still give it shot. These are the new rules:

1. Publish an awesome Instructable on any subject anytime between April 15th and Sunday July 1st 11:59 PM PDT and add it to the Laser Cutter contest group. You may submit as many Instructables as you choose.

Entries do not have to involve lasers; any Instructable is eligible. The focus is on sharing what you're passionate about.

2. We'll judge the projects and select 10 finalists. The 10 finalists will be announced on July 6th, and we will create special ratable forum posts about each finalist and their project. We will then invite the Instructables community to help judge by rating these special forums posts. From the finalists we will select a winner with help from Squid Labs, past winners, and the forum ratings.

We decided to make these changes for two reasons. First, the concept of writing a proposal seemed to be scaring people off. We simply wanted to know what you had in mind for the laser, and "I want to build cool stuff" would have potentially sufficed. Given this potential confusion over the proposal, we're just dropping it. Second, we're not going to explicitly use the pageviews and rating of the projects to help judge. Even though we only were only going to use it an an input into judging, it can favor a project that is older rather than better. So, by creating the special forum posts, each of the finalists will start on even ground. We didn't want anyone to decide not to enter because they were only going to get their project finished and published right before the deadline.

Contest boilerplate is here and here; substitute contest names/specifics as necessary. Here are some details specific to this contest:

You must be 18 or older to enter. If you are 13-17, you can still enter, but to win you will need to verify that you had the permission of a parent or guardian (we will have a permission slip for you). The best solution would be to have your parent join you as a collaborator on your Instructable.

Only U.S. residents can win the laser cutter. Winner is responsible for all taxes (we will remind the finalists of this to make sure they are able properly deal with the taxes). Shipping internationally would be tough, but customs and differing world regulations on lasers make it impossible for us to give you a laser cutter if you are outside the U.S. I am sorry. I hope that non-U.S. residents will still enter; you can win any of the other prizes, and I promise that we will be blind to location in judging for the finals. If international entries make the finals, we will recognize them as such, award them a Leatherman, and select alternates from among the remaining pool of submissions to submit laser cutter proposals. (We're still confirming whether we can ship to Canada, and will update as soon as we know.)

Let me also encourage groups to enter the contest using our collaboration feature. I know a laser cutter would be a perfect addition to a community hobby shop.

Have fun!

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